Monday, 25 April 2011

Appropriately named the 'Tech Yourself Before You Wreck Yourself Tour' this night really needed little introduction. Arriving at the venue saw a wide variety of Tech and Metal heads eager for the onslaught of 7 string wizardry.

Since the demise of SiKth in May 2008, Tech has grown from strength to strength and now the world watches eagerly to see what guitarist Pin has up has sleeve.

First band we saw of the night were local Once A Wolf. Since releasing their EP 'Advent' in February this year, the bandhave been gaining a stronger following with their performances in and out of Brighton.

The experience they have gained in the last few months has obviously done them well with their performance delivering more aggression and authority than I have seen before. Steve Powell's vocals have made a massive improvement, nailing the clean sections with style and the screams with the supposed anthropomorphic qualities their name suggests.

Highlights of the set included a tight rendition of 'Primeval Atom' and dusting things off with their EP's title track 'Advent'. With the way things are going for the band, it won't be long till Once A Wolf are on the prowl again in a town near you.

Cyclamen were very much a new band to me, but boasted a performance worthy of the entry fee alone. Frontman Hayato Imanishi greeted the set jumping straight into the audience in a manner that would also see him shouting straight into peoples faces and climbing The Hope's central pillar.

Featuring Monuments guitar player Olly Steele in the mix the band sounded tight and maintained a heavy presence throughout the whole set. Songs such as the un-acknowledged 'Djent! Djent! And 'Never Ending Dream' created momentum and energy on the floor. Cyclamen were absolutely great emotively creating an heir of unsatisfied desperation whilst raising the flag for modern 'd-jent'.

Break Ya Neck

Metal has come a long was since Steve Vai put his name to the first mass produced 7 string in the early 90's. It would appear that Chimp Spanner's sole commander Paul Ortiz is here to push that envelope further, forgetting industrial sized hair dryers to preen his ego but instead choosing substance over style. Their set for me stole the night and by the audience's reaction of gaping jaws and raised horns I wasn't alone.

As the set continued the band reach unchartered levels of intensity, and the dirty bastard even got his 8 string out, causing the earth to quake and hell to open.

And just like Paul the band he had assembled were equally matched in proficiency. The drummer was groovy, tight as fuck and one hell of a showmen, demonically gurning at the crowd and spinning his sticks as if it were all just a walk in the park.

To anyone who believed like I did, that 'djent' is just a load of trendy bull shit-that quite frankly Meshuggah have done already and better, listen to Chimp Spanner. Just be careful, your head might explode.

Headliners Aliases come to tech your tits off and oh boy were my tits teched. What is odd though is how little exposure this band have had outside of their sole release: 'We Never Should Have Met'.

But, I like a lot of members of the audience were gagging to see what kind of sick (or SiKth) shit well renowned bad mother fucker of the 6 string axe Graham 'Pin' Pinney was going to pull.

Expectations can be a cruel thing, but not when they are blown to smithereens. Within seconds of the set opening vocalist Jay Berast was upfront spewing a monstrous vocal performance down the mic and the band collectively stepping up the energy on stage than the other acts.

As expected Pin was an absolute behemoth on the guitar just like fellow axe-women, Leah who together displayed enough fret tapping to put Van Halen out of work.

The bands material is strong and although similarities between them and SiKth can be drawn it's obvious they're evolving on their own terms. Aliases are a band to watch, and fuck me they can play.

Friday, 22 April 2011

Arriving at the gig before doors see's many eager fans already waiting under the evening sunshine of the idilic Brighton Sea Front. Alas, a superb line up awaits the punters and leaves us eager to see what the night has in store.

So far 2011 has proved a very prosperous year for This Is Massacre which has seen them releasing their debut EP 'We Cannot Be Saved' and stepping out of general band circuit to support some high profile acts in some of the best venues in Brighton.

This Is Massacre took the opportunity in their stride looking extremely comfortable on the big stage. Their sound was something to die for with tight kick drum blasts pummelling you chesty bass and a full on saturated Thrash tone to leave all the gear junkies creaming in their pants.

Since last seeing them in February the band have toyed with their line up replacing Tom Chilton on bass with Ross McLean, leaving him to share the more gutsy side of vocals with Dan.

It takes real experience and confidence for a band to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses and act upon it. This dynamic shift really worked in the bands favour as it allowed them to depict a much more devastating stage show which was well noted by the audience. As the room began to fill more and more so did the level of intensity in the crowd with most pits opening and the people at the front of the onlookers held well and truly in the palm of the bands hand.

This Is Massacre are well and truly climbing up the ranks and once they hit the perfect balance of dynamic in their new line-up change, everything will be in place for them to be a heavy weight act both in and out of Brighton.

Once again Brighton takes a sonic trip into the soundscapes that texturises the Devil Sold His Soul experience. Their set was greeted with just as much anticipation as their set at Digital and just like before, their sound was nothing short of exceptional.The venue was filled with the enigmatic intensity of their music rendering the listener in a near trance like state.

Just like This Is Massacre before the larger capacity stage and impressive lighting rig showed a higher level of presence and authority than the previous gig.

Frontman Ed Gibbs is very much the driving force of this performance running about the stage to squeeze as much energy out of the willing audience as possible.

Always a band to leave you wanting more and with a growing fan base in the South it most likely won't be long till we see these guys down here again.

Deaf Havanna initially came across as a controversial band to have on the night's bill sounding almost poppy after the previous acts. Frontman, James Veck-Gilodi admitted that 'we're basically a shit rock band sandwiched in-between'.

Although their appearance showed a slight division in the crowd, a shit rock band they were not offering a refreshing break to distinguish sets. With the click in the bass drum being very quickly removed from the equaliser their set gathered exciting momentum winning me over with personality and hooky songs.

The audience clearly know all the singles singing them loud and proud and once James dropped the 'Brighton is my favourite place in the UK' it was clear they were on to a winner.

With a headline tour to sweep the UK in July to support the release of their new album Deaf Havana will be hitting a stereo near you soon.

Being the first time Underoath have ever played Brighton, Concorde is well and truly at capacity. The band hit the stage in a furious display of raw power and energy triggering some of the biggest pits of the night and the first few crowd surfers to roll over the fence.

Having been a turbulent few years for the band with various members leaving and re-shuffling of line-ups the band shattered expectations with outright professionalism. In a quick passing hour the band managed to remain at a peak delicately interchanging between material of old and new.

Little time was really spent talking to the audience other than the odd mention of their new album and instead just giving the audience more of what they want. The band finish their sweaty fuelled set to an encore of 'Writing on The Walls' which has the audience singing as loudly as Spencer through the PA.